Of Kunai, Shuriken and Shinobi Love
by Snowhearte
Summary: A SakSas fanfic. Fluffy. Especially at the end. Her training is passed on to him, and they have an argument, resulting in deep wounds on both of their hearts, though Sasukekun doesn't realize it. What will happen? Read to find out. And review, plz! LAST C
1. Training Passed On

Chapter One: Training Passed On

(Sasuke's PoV)

We were training. Naruto and Sakura were going at each other, blonde and pink hair flying. Sakura was much faster than Naruto and had better Chakra control, but he was far stronger and cheated by using the Kyuubi's Chakra. I watched their battle with detached boredom, though inside I was calculating their every move. This way, I knew what would happen before either of them did.

"RAAGH!" Naruto yelled in frustration as she dodged yet another of her moves. "STOP THAT!" "You'll hit me though," Sakura called innocently from the top of a tree. "Exactly!" Naruto roared, sending a ball of Chakra at her.

I shook my head. "Childish," I muttered. "Completely childish." "Disapproving of their antics, Sasuke?" Kakashi-sensei said, grinning at me through his mask. I scowled. "Of course," I growled. "They're even more childish than you, Kakashi-sensei."

Our sensei laughed, and socked me lightly in the back of the head. "There are many levels of childishness, Sasuke," he admonished. "And I'm not in any of them." "As if," I muttered, rubbing that back of my head. He laughed again. "Sometimes you're really funny, Sasuke," he said. He slung an arm around my shoulders, bending close to speak to me. "Now, I have a favour to ask you." I looked at him. "Go on," I said warily.

"I want you to take over Sakura's training."

"_What?"_

"Easy, boyo, it's only temporary." Kakashi-sensei raised a lone eyebrow at me. "Would you rather have _my_ position and train Naruto?"

"I'll stick with Sakura, thanks."

"Good boy. We'll announce this when—if?—one of them wins. Remember, Sasuke, I'm only doing this because _you_ are weaker than me and your lessons are still fresh enough in your mind for you to re-teach them to Sakura and make her stronger. You can do it successfully. Besides, if I paired you and Naruto together, you'd get nowhere." Somehow I had to agree with this.

Still, it was _ages_ before Sakura finally defeated Naruto by pinning him to the ground and holding a kunai at his throat. Even then, that blond idiot jumped around yelling that it wasn't fair, he had won, until I smacked him upside the head and told him to quit it because Kakashi-sensei and I had an announcement.

"Listen up, you two," Kakashi-sensei said. "I'm turning over your training to someone else. Well, not really," he said over their cries of dismay. "Naruto, I'm keeping you. Sakura, however, your training will be taken over by Sasuke."

Inner Sakura: YES! YESYESYES! FINALLY! SOME QUALITY ALONE TIME WITH SASUKE! _WITHOUT_ NARUTO!

Outer Sakura: "Yes, Kakashi-sensei."

I groaned inwardly.

Naruto looked dismayed, and no wonder why. I had always known he liked Sakura. I smirked at him. He glared back. I would have stuck out my tongue if it hadn't been so childish. Instead I smirked some more, then turned my ears to what Kakashi was saying.

"So, basically Sakura's whole training will be determined entirely by Sasuke," he was saying. "That'll be a lot of responsibility for you, Sasuke, and a lesson in humility for Sakura. It'll be harder than you think to take orders from someone your age." "'Course," Naruto shouted. "And there's no better time than the present," Kakashi-sensei continued, ignoring him. "Sakura and Sasuke can go find a different clearing than us; otherwise we'll all get distracted." "Right," I said, turning and walking away. I expected her to follow. Of course she did

We walked in silence for the most part. Once or twice she asked me questions, like what we were doing, but I didn't answer them. Mostly because the answer was "I don't know."

_How the hell am I supposed to do this?_ I wondered. I'd never taught before, only _been_ taught. It was a strange feeling.

I stopped her in a clearing. "Here'll do," I said, then added cleverly, "Um." "You have no idea how to do this, do you?" Sakura asked. "No, not really," I admitted reluctantly. "Well, what you're supposed to do is run through my paces," she explained. "How do you know?" I asked, impressed. "I watch Kakashi-sensei teach," she replied, blushing faintly. I shrugged, and complied.

First, I had her throw kunai at a target, then shuriken. She got nine out of ten in the bulls-eye, and ten out of ten in the target. _Have to work on that until its ten outta ten in the eye,_ I noted. _Theo ne that misses could be the one aimed at the enemy._

Next I made her do Genjutsu. She was pretty good on her illusions, as good as I was on transformations, but she was horrible on replacement. _Illusion and replacement, then._

Then I had her do some Taijutsu. She was beautiful in most of the moves, so good I was admiring her, but she needed to work on many points.

As for her Ninjutsu, she was a failure at offensive jutsu, passable in defensive ones and perfect at healing—no wonder. She _was_ a medic-nin.

I stopped her at midafternoon. "Enough," I said. "You don't need to be collapsing from exhaustion." As we walked back, I began telling her the points we would work on, like her replacement jutsu, the points we would keep limber, like most of her Taijutsu, and the points we didn't need to work on at all but probably would anyway, like her Chakra control.

We met up with Kakashi-sensei and Naruto. Naruto looked reasonably tired, but not as much as Sakura. I hoped I hadn't pushed her too far.

Kakashi-sensei ran an experienced eye over Sakura's condition then nodded slightly and approvingly to me. I relaxed slightly. "All right," our sensei said. "You guys can go home now. Come early tomorrow, Sasuke." "What's the point?" I asked. "Won't you be lost on the road to life?" He rolled his eye. "Just be here early." Then he vanished.

"Geez," I muttered as we began walking. "What'm I supposed to do now?" "I agree," Sakura grumbled. "HA!" Naruto yelled gleefully. I rolled my eyes.

Sakura walked between us—to "avoid fights," as she put it—though she and Naruto argued constantly until my head was about to explode. They bickered about _everything,_ from shoes to training and everything in between. I was ready to sock them both in the back of the head and walk between _them_—I mean, what do kunai have to do with me asleep in my bed?—when Naruto branched off toward his house, screaming goodbyes to us and to Kiba, Akamaru, Ino and Konohamaru, who were passing by all in different directions. Sakura, seeing Ino, grabbed my arm, sticking her tongue out at her rival. The platinum-haired girl glared furiously.

"Um, would you not?" I asked uncomfortably, yanking my arm out of her grip. _That is soo annoying._ "Sorry," she said, flushing and skipping along. She shouted a greeting of her own to Kiba, Akamaru and Konohamaru, then turned off toward her house. "See you tomorrow, Sasuke-kun!" she called, grinning at me as she ran off. As I watched her, I felt an odd sadness that she was leaving, but shook it off. _Ugh. What's my problem? I'm so melancholy today,_ I thought, turning away in the direction of my apartment on the other side of Konoha-Gakure. _Oh, well. It'll pass tomorrow._


	2. Our Eventful Day Off

Chapter Two: Our... Eventful Day Off

(Sasuke's PoV)

The next day, I was early to training, like Kakashi-sensei wanted, but also because I'd spent a night fraught with nightmares. I was still shaking slightly from the last one, but you'd never notice it to look at me.

_Damn you, Itachi... Orochimaru..._

Sakura was already there, the first one. She was sitting under a sakura no hana tree, meditating. The tree was raining pink blossoms on her, but she didn't seem to notice. I stood a moment, awed that a human could appear so incredibly peaceful. But I had forgotten to mask my Chakra. The peace was shattered. Her green eyes snapped open, looking around in dizzy surprise, shaking the flowers from her hair. She seemed to brighten when she saw me

"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, grinning a good-morning and stretching. "You scared me. Make some noise next time!" "Sorry," I muttered. "Ohayo." I leaned up against my usual spot. Soon enough, she was leaning back up against the tree and seemed to fall asleep--or she was meditating again. As Konoha-genkure's most promising medic-nin, she did that a lot.

I yawned silently. I felt like falling asleep myself. I must've gotten about two hours of sleep last night. "Quiet," I commented. "That's because Naruto's not here," Sakura replied sleepily. "Your Chakra feels tired, Sasuke-kun." She opened a single eye. "You look tired, too."

I furrowed my brow at her. _Damn. How did she know? _Then I mentally smacked myself. _Duh, Sasuke! You DO have a mirror! You look like a bloody ferret with those rings under your eyes!_ So I nodded. "Not much sleep last night," I replied. "Looks like Kakashi-sensei AND Naruto are late." "Oh, Naruto's probably lost on the road to life with Kakashi-sensei," Sakura snorted, sounding a little les drowsy. "Lost on the road to something, anyway. Sanity, probably." I chuckled. It was true, after all.

"YO!" came the familiar screech. "Oh, great," I muttered. "The world's most knuckle-headed ninja arrives." "SAKURA-CHAAAAN!" the blond idiot screamed. "SASUKE! GUESS WHAT? KAKASHI-SENSEI SAYS WE GET A FREE DAY TODAY BECAUSE HE'S GONNA BE IN MEETINGS WITH TSUNADE-BABA ALL DAY! SOMETHING ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE BUT IT HAS TO DO WITH SAND AND GAARA'S HERE! ALL THE SENSEIS ARE IN THE MEETINGS! WE ALL GET TO DO WHATEVER WE WANT ALL DAY! TSUNADE-BABA IS SOOOO COOOOOOOOOL!" Of course, he _had _to scream all that.

I poked my ear, wincing. "Shut up, Naruto," I snapped. "Tell us in a fashion that _doesn't _deafen us." "Kakashi-sensei says we have a free day today," Naruto said breathlessly. "WHEEEEEEEE! I'm gonna maybe go hang out by the river, then maybe eat a LOT of ramen, then maybe visit Neji and maybe Kiba too and DEFINITELY Gaara, and maybe I'll get Hinata to show me how to do the Gentle Fist, then maybe--" "SHUT UP!" Sakura shouted. "STOP SAYING MAYBE!" I felt a headache growing in my temples.

"Free day?" I said coolly, over their bickering. "All right with me." With that, I turned and strolled off, hoping to find somewhere to go to meditate, or take a nap, anything to soothe my throbbing headache. It was a lovely day and I didn't want to waste is sleeping inside. So, I'd waste it sleeping _outside_.

In the background I heard Sakura shrieking at Naruto--something about him running me off--but I ignored it because it was annoying and childish. It also just complemented my headache.

I stretched out beneath a tree in a nearby field. It was, ironically, a sakura no hana tree. Pink blossoms fell on me, but I didn't really mind. They smelled nice, like Sakura.

I would have minded in any other situation, but I was so tired... I leaned back against the sakura no hana tree and closed my eyes. I was soon deeply asleep.

And in the depths of a nightmare.

Orochimaru stood over me, teeth dripping with blood. Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei lay nearby, and somehow I knew they were dead and it was their blood dripping from Orochimaru's fangs. "You will come to me for power," the Grass ninja whispered. His neck stretched out, teeth extended for my neck...

The scene changed. Now I was amidst the ruins of the Uchiha Clan buildings. I was a little boy again, maybe eight or nine. An involuntary whimper worked its way out of my sleeping throat. Itachi stood before me. "It's not worth it to kill you," he whispered. "Foolish little brother." Suddenly my body was moving on its own; I was running toward him. "DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" I was screaming. His fist hit my stomach. I choked, feeling ribs break...

Bright green Healing-Chakra exploded into my mind.

I wrenched myself out of sleep with a scream. Hands left my forehead and took my shoulders, and I found myself staring into a pair of frightened green eyes. I stared into them, gape-mouthed with surprise and lingering fear, before I realized who it was and snapped my cold, indifferent mask back on.

"S-Sakura?" I said, furious at myself for letting the stutter get into my voice. "What're _you _doing here?" Since the only way I could think of to mask my fear and surprise was to be a cold-hearted bastard, that's what I did. "Go away," I added sharply. She ignored the last comment, and put her cool hands back on my forehead. "Naruto was pissing me off, so I went for a walk," she said, injecting a little more Healing-Chakra into my mind. "I felt your Chakra, came to say hi and you were having a nightmare. You also had a fever," she added. I automatically put a hand on my forehead, over hers. Sakura blushed and took her own hand away.

"I don't have that much of a f-fever," I protested, scowling at her and mentally cursing the stutter. Now I was awake, I had begun to realize the full horror of my nightmares, and began to shake. I didn't want to show weakness in front of anyone, especially Sakura (and Naruto). And I was tired and scared. So I was irritable. "Go away," I continued. "GOD, you're annoying!"

She looked away, hurt. "Sorry, Sasuke-kun," she said, in a voice so small it was hardly audible. Sakura stood, brushed off her rear, and wandered away.

I instantly felt so bad I was just about to run off after her to apologize when I caught myself. What was the matter with me? Yesterday I hadn't given a rat's ass about Sakura's feelings. Now...

Now, apparently, I did.

I remembered how her hand had felt under mine, on my forehead: cool, soft, protective. I felt my face grow warm as I blushed fiercely. _Oh, damn..._

It was about noon now. I had slept for nearly five hours. I really wanted to sleep some more, but I felt so guilty about making Sakura feel bad... and then there were the nightmares.

I reached up and slapped myself across the face. Hard. It hurt. _Snap out of it!_ I rubbed my cheek with a scowl. _What the hell's the matter with me?_


	3. Sasuke Has A Realization

_Tick. Tick._

_I swear I'm going to kill that damn clock._

It was later that night. I was curled up on my futon, a book held loosely in my hands. I wasn't really reading it. It was also raining, so that put yet another dampener on my already bad day.

_Tick. Tick._

_Shi-it!_

And there was also that clock. My giant clock—the one on the wall I'd always hated—seemed extra loud and annoying tonight. It was as though it thought its sole purpose in life was to piss me off.

_Tick. Tick._

_One more time…_

My headache was back, throbbing in my temples and behind my eyes. I tried watching TV, but soon gave up. It did _not_ help that images of a certain pink-haired kunoichi kept floating to the front of what was left of my mind.

_Tick. Tick._

"That's IT! DIE, YOU FUCKING CLOCK!"

_Tick. Ti-CRASH!_

A kunai knife was buried to the hilt into the wall amidst the ruins of my shattered clock. I found myself on my feet, arm outstretched still from the throw, breathing hard.

_Knock, knock._

_Oh, what now?_

Someone was at the door, a rather timid-sounding someone.

Well, considering I'd just thrown a kunai into my clock, screaming "Die, you fucking clock…"

With a growl of frustration I whirled, stalked over to the door, and wrenched it open. "What?" I growled.

It was Sakura.

My anger vanished, and my heart seemed to skip a beat. She was soaking wet and shivering from the cold rain, her short pink hair plastered to her skull.

She shoved a damp note into my hand. "This is from Kakashi-sensei," she muttered, while I stood there stupidly. Then she turned and ran off through the sleeting downpour. I snapped out of it. "Sakura!" I shouted after her, several times. But she either ignored me or couldn't hear me. I fought a losing battle with a cloud of worry. _I hope she'll be all right. It's pretty dark and cold out there._

Then I shook the emotions off, closing the door. _Emotion is for the weak,_ I reminded myself firmly. _Worry is for the weak. Don't feel and you don't hurt._ But still, it was raining pretty hard…

I remembered how she hadn't looked at me when she'd been at the door, and flinched. _All this over a simple "go away,"_ I thought miserably. _Maybe she's realized how mean I've been to her since we were twelve. Maybe I crossed the line when I called her annoying. But I do that all the time!_

_Maybe it was the last straw…_

I smacked my forehead, as _I_ relaized how mean I'd been to her.

I never deemed to notice her, I always put her down, I always complained about how useless she was…

I sat down on the futon with a thud and a groan. No wonder people called me Sasuke the Ice Statue (never to my face, I'd heard it from Naruto). And if been even worse to her after I'd come back from Orochimaru.

I smacked my forehead again. "Kami, I am a _stupid_ bastard!" I moaned aloud. "Why can't I just keep my big mouth shut?" Then I remembered the note she had given me.

_From Kakashi-sensei?_ I wondered, opening it. The kanji was a little smeared form the rain, so I had to read it carefully, but at least it took my mind off of Sakura…

_Sasuke,_

_Don't worry about coming to training tomorrow. At nine o'clock tomorrow morning pick up Naruto and Sakura from their houses. The senseis have organized a game day for the Chuunin and Genin. Don't forget, 9:00!_

—_Kakashi_

_Well,_ I thought with mild surprise and pleasure. _That sounds… well, better than training._ I put the note on the table, then saw another piece of paper on the floor. It had fallen out of the first note, and was in Naruto's messy scrawl.

_What the hell d'you think you're doing?_ it began. _Sakura-chan is really hurt! I asked her if she wanted to get some ramen with me at Ichiraku to tell me about it and she said yes! That isn't the Sakura-chan I know. And in the middle of it—she wasn't eating either—she broke down and began crying. Hysterically. If you don't smarten up I'll personally see to it that Orochimaru pays you a visit!_ This note I crumpled up, annoyed, angry and full of shame. _Thank you, Naruto, for adding to the guilt trip,_ I thought savagely. _Have I really been that bad?_

I got a piece of paper and a pen and made two lists: one, all the times I could remember that I'd been mean to her, and two, all the times I could remember that I'd been nice to her. The mean far outnumbered the nice. I grimaced. _If I've been nice to her once, I've been mean twenty times!_ I chewed my pen lid. _I HAVE to make it up to her. But how?_

Then I slapped myself for the third time that day. _This isn't me thinking! Where's the uncaring? The ice? The detachment? What's wrong with me? Am I sick?_

Then I had a revelation.

_Is Sasuke the Ice Statue melting?_


	4. Game Day

I woke up with a raging headache. I was sweating and shaking from a night of bad dreams. I felt despondent and thoroughly _not_ myself. All in all, I did _not_ feel like a game day.

All I wanted to do was curl up and go back to sleep. But the whiteness of Kakashi-sensei's note stared up at me accusingly from the table. I moaned and hauled myself from my bed.

I had a cold shower to wake myself up and a cup of the strongest coffee I could make. My teeth almost fell out, but it woke me up.

I was still grimacing from the coffee when I left my apartment to pick up my teammates. It was a sobering concept.

Naruto's own apartment was farther from mine than Sakura's house, but I both did and didn't want to be with her. At least, not alone. But I _really_ didn't want to be alone with Naruto. I pondered for a moment, then heaved a sigh of frustration and headed right to Sakura's house.

It was still raining, but not as hard as the night before. I'd forgotten a rain jacket, but the cold rain woke me up nicely. I ran the last few blocks to Sakura's house, knowing I was early and that her mother would invite me inside their _warm_ house to wait.

I knocked on the door, and Mrs. Haruno opened it, smiling. "Hello, Sasuke," she greeted me. "Sakura's not quite ready yet. Would you like to come in?" "Yes, please," I said, stepping into the foyer. I was always polite to Sakura's parents because they were always kind to me and I liked them.

Sakura was sitting at the kitchen table, sleepily eating a bowl of rice. "Ohayo, Sasuke," she mumbled, not looking at me. I hid the sting of pain in my heart—where was the -kun she always added onto my name?—and nodded at her. "Ohayo," I said.

"Would you like some breakfast, Sasuke?" Mrs. Haruno asked me, puttering around in the kitchen. "No, thanks, Mrs. Haruno," I replied. "I already ate." This was a lie—I hadn't had anything but that coffee—but I didn't think I could keep anything down with my stomach in knots from…something. Was it Sakura? Probably.

_Am I ill?_ Probably.

"Hurry up, Sakura; you don't want to keep your friend waiting," Mrs. Haruno scolded her. "He's not really my friend, Mum," Sakura said, staring right at me. "He's just my team mate." She put her bowl in the seat. "Be right back." She went up the stairs into her room.

Mrs. Haruno sat across from me with a cup of tea. She pushed one towards me even though I'd said I didn't want any. "Did you and Sakura have a fight?" she asked. I jumped, shoving my mask into place. "No," I said stiffly. "Then what's her problem?" Mrs. Haruno countered. "Since yesterday she's been sulky and rude. I made her favourite dinner last night, and she barely ate anything. Her father tried to talk to her but she ran off to Naruto's house. I know her too well to think it might be normal teenage blues. What happened?"

I felt my eyes begin to sting, and my nose hurt, which always happens when I'm about to cry. Embarrassed, I scowled. "I don't know," I told her, bordering on the edge of rudeness. "I don't know what Sakura's problem is. How _would_ I know, anyway?" "You're her friend, aren't you?" "A pretty shitty friend," I retorted. She ignored my language and merely shook her head sadly. She seemed about to say something, but Sakura came clattering down the stairs. I looked at her, studying her features, and felt a pang of guilty pain. She was definitely unhappy. And _I_ was the cause of it.

_Sasuke the Ice Statue is definitely melting._

Sakura went by me without looking at me and only a muttered, "Come on, then." I hurried to catch up with her. She slammed the door, ignoring her mother's yell of "How many times to I have to tell you? DON'T SLAM THE DOOR!"

Sakura strode furiously down the road in front of me. Her Chakra was heavily shielded, so I couldn't see what she was feeling. It would be hard for me, anyway. I paced behind her, studying her at me leisure.

Naruto joined us at the crossroads, took one look at both our expressions, and fell in beside Sakura. He began whispering in her ear, too quiet for me to hear. Occasionally she would reply softly, but he did most of the talking. Whispering. Whatever.

We got to the soccer field ten minutes early. The only people missing were Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji. Most senseis were there, too, Kakashi-sensei being the most obvious one missing.

We stood with Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, Hinata, lee and Temari. It seemed all three Sabakus were here, but Temari said Gaara would be a little bit late. Naruto was a bit disappointed at this. No wonder; he and the new Kazekage were pretty good friends.

"God, it's cold," Temari said, shivering. "I wish Gaara were here to make some warm sand to heat us up." "What about Shikamaru?" Kiba teased, and got her fan in his face. We all laughed.

Tenten came into the group, looked at Sakura, looked at me, looked at Sakura again, then me again. Realization dawned in her eyes. Without warning, she darted forward, grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the group. They either didn't notice or they ignored it.

"Tenten, what the hell?" I snapped. Tenten looked at me, brown eyes frank. "You really haven't noticed?" she asked incredulously. I looked at her blankly. "Noticed what?" She shook her head. "And I thought Naruto was dense with the whole Hinata thing," she sighed. "Sakura looks like she's about to cry. Like, she's just holding back her tears. You don't look so happy yourself. Whyyyy?" I heaved a sigh that turned into a groan. "I've just been a cold sonofabitch to her over the years," I muttered. "I snapped at her the other day and… that was her breaking point." "And now you feel uber-bad," Tenten said matter-of-factly. I nodded.

She brooded for a moment, then announced, "You two would make an adorable couple."

My face flamed. I was sure I heard raindrops sizzle on it. "Oy!" I exclaimed. "You would," she insisted. "You'd never hear this from another guy, but you seriously would!" "No, we wouldn't," I said firmly. "We'd make a horrible couple." She shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just be sure you apologize," she said, then wandered off toward Neji.

I stayed for a moment until I was sure my face was a normal colour, pondering her words. Then I walked slowly back. "What'd Tenten want, Sasuke?" Naruto asked. I shook my head. "Nevermind."

Kakashi-sensei was fifteen minutes late. We were getting impatient. Even Gaara was there now, out of his meeting with Tsunade-sama. He had been kind enough to make an undercover area of hot sand that we all crowded underneath.

"Why's HE always late?" Konohamaru whined. "Because he's an ass," Naruto growled. "I resent that," Kakashi-sensei noted calmly from behind us. I thought Naruto's blue eyes would bug out of his head. "WHERE WERE YOU?" he yelled. "C'mon, Sakura, back me up." "I was lost on the toad to life," Kakashi-sensei said innocently. "BULL!" Naruto yelled. "Probably reading Icha Icha Paradise! Sakura, HELP ME!" "Do it yourself," Sakura said in a small voice, staring at the ground. It was the first thing she'd said since we'd arrived at the field.

We all stared at her. Usually she'd jump right in yelling at Kakashi-sensei, without any prompting at all. Now…

Now she didn't.

And it was all my fault.

I flinched, turning away. "Let's just get this stupid thing over with," I said, slipping into my Sasuke-the-Ice-Statue façade. Naruto raised an eyebrow at me, then exchanged a Look with Kakashi-sensei as we walked to the front of the crowd. Sakura trotted after us despondently.

The Chuunins and Genins—and Kazekage and Jounin—gathered in a line in front of the senseis. Kakashi-, Gai- and Kurenai-senseis looked at us for a moment, then Kurenai stepped forward.

"These will be two-player games," she said. She pointed at Neji. "You. You're a One. Come here." Neji obeyed, going up to stand beside her. "Pick someone," Kurenai said. "Any someone. It doesn't have to be from your own team." Neji surveyed the group for a long time, as if thinking—as if he could—but eventually he said "Tenten." She bounced forward to stand beside him. Kurenai nodded. "You proceed like that," she said, and began dividing us up.

I was a One. So were Hinata, Shika, Chouji, Kiba, Lee, Gaara and Kankorou. I didn't really pay much attention to who chose who, but Shika chose Temari, Chou was with Ino, Kiba took Shino and Hinata shyly teamed with Naruto. Then it was my turn.

I surveyed the remaining members (Sakura and Konohamaru) as though I was thinking. But I had already made my decision a long, long time ago. I pretended to bite my lip. Sakura was staring at the ground, looking miserable and giving a lousy attempt to hide it.

"Sakura."

She looked up, startled, as I repeated her name, then walked slowly over to my side. I tried to smile at her, but it came out as a sort of grimace. So I gave up.

Lee looked crushed—he was convinced he loved Sakura—but called out to Konohamaru gallantly. Kankorou, seeing there was no one else for him to choose, shrugged and jogged over to join his little brother Gaara.

"That's good," Kurenai said, nodding at them. "I like seeing things like that. These games, though, remember, are also _training,_ in teamwork and coordination. Now. Let the games being."

Let the games begin. Heh.


	5. Let The Games Begin

We started with an obstacle course. Typical: tires that you had to go over, rope swing over a mud pit, tire tunnel, monkey bars, climbing nets and rocks… Sounds easy.

Except for the fact that our legs were tied together.

"This is to help your teamwork in the springtime of youth!" Gai-sensei cried. I watched dubiously as Kakashi-sensei tied my right leg to Sakura's left one. "Your fists of love will hit simultaneously!"

"You go through the course beginning at the monkey bars—"

"In the springtime of youth, nothing can stop you—"

"—and proceed to the tire tunnel. Then—"

"—and if you try, you can go on forever—"

"—go to the rope, then nets, then rocks. Lastly—"

"—your fists of love will never die!"

"—the tires. Go that, everyone?"

"GOOD LUCK, LEE!"

"I SHALL NOT DISAPPOINT YOU, GAI-SENSEI!" Fuzzy-Eyebrows cried. "Does anyone else understand what they're talking about?" Temari asked loudly. A chorus of voices—mine included—shouted "No!" back to her. Gai-sensei was too busy looking in a mirror to notice, but Lee looked crushed.

I sighed in exasperation, then Sakura and I hobbled awkwardly over to line up with the others. We were sixth, right before Naruto and Hinata. Kiba and Shino were first. Akamaru stayed behind with us, watching his partner avidly.

I didn't pay much attention, though I did notice when Hinata, Naruto and everyone else began laughing. I turned to see Kiba and Shino in the mud pit. They clambered out—with the help of Kakashi-sensei—laughing their heads off.

"That mud's sooo warm!" Kiba gasped, coming back over to us. "It was almost worth it to lose," Shino added, wiping mud off his glasses, as Temari and Shikamaru ran for the monkey bars. Even I had to chuckle as they jumped for the first bar, missed dramatically, and fell in a tangle of limbs to the cold wet ground. "Ok, Hinata, we won't try that," Naruto said as they limped past us. They gave him dirty looks.

Konohamaru and Lee made it all the way through, much to the teary pleasure of Gai-sensei and the loud cheering of Naruto. The minute Konohamaru was free of Lee he flung himself at Naruto. "I did it, boss!" the little boy said excitedly. "Didja see? Me'n Eyebrows beat the other guys!" "Yay!" Naruto shouted, high-fiving Konohamaru. "Like boss,' like Genin," I muttered.

Much to Konohamaru's dismay, the next three teams made it through, too. The next team, right before us, Kankorou and Gaara, didn't seem to be able to work together and fell from the rock-climbing wall, to be cushioned by Gaara's sand. Then it was our turn.

Sakura and I hobbled up to the starting line. Kakashi-sensei's whistle blared. "Go, SAKURA-CHAAAN!" Naruto instantly began screaming. "Go, SAAASUKE!" I felt sorry for Hinata. She _was_ unfortunate enough to be right beside him.

If we had been awkward before with our legs tied together before, we weren't now. We moved like a single being—though I was abnormally conscious of her warm flesh just next to mine—and as we leapt for the monkey bars, she somehow used her momentum to jerk me around. My hands grabbed onto the cold metal, slipped for a moment—the cold rain made the bars slippery—then lifted her up so she could grab on, too.

We moved across, quickly and easily, and flung ourselves off onto the ground. I stumbled a bit here, but steadied myself as we went on to the tire tunnel. We made the decision without speaking: Sakura went first, going forward, and I went second, going backward, stretching our bound legs for more room. We made it through, ignoring Naruto's screams and cheers—poor Hinata—and darted for the rope.

We grabbed opposite sides of it. I grasped the rope as Sakura wrapped her arms around me. We pushed off simultaneously. I tired to ignore her arms around me, but it was hard…

I landed on the ground of the opposite side the same time she did. We rolled at the exact same time and came up running. _Yes!_ I thought, adrenaline coursing through my body. _We're winning!_ We had the best time so far. I glanced over to Sakura. She was panting, like me but harder, and her viridian eyes shone with glee. My heart jumped at seeing her like that, and I stumbled. I caught myself against a tree and kept running.

This was where we began to falter. I scrambled up the nets, Sakura right beside me. She slipped on the wet ropes, and I waited for her to right herself. But she couldn't seem to. She struggled for a moment before I grabbed both her hands and pulled her up beside me.

And this was where _everything_ went wrong. In the rain, the climbing rocks were extremely perilous. I felt a flash of worry. _We shouldn't be going up them!_ There were no ropes to hold us steady if we fell, only our partner. I hoped Sakura was strong enough to hold me, just in case…

I began moving cautiously up the wet plastic rocks.' Sakura went right beside me. We had to grab with both hands for individual rocks, move our attached legs up, then move our free legs. This worked fine. At least until we were halfway up.

I grabbed for a rock at the same time Sakura did. She pressed down, gripping my hand, before realizing it was my hand and _not_ the rock. I pulled my hand back, flinching with pain. My foot—the one bound to hers—slipped. She was jerked down—and let go of the rock wall.

She hung, still bound to my leg. I gasped at the sudden weight and she screamed as she suddenly found herself hanging fifty feet above the ground. I clenched my other hand firmly to the wall.

There were shouts from the ninjas gathered below. The four Jounin—Kakashi-, Kurenai-, Gai-senseis and Neji—and Gaara began bolting for us.

I heard the fabric holding us together rip a bit. _They won't make it in time,_ I realized. "Sakura!" I gasped. "Grab a rock! Any rock!" The fabric tore a little more. "Can't reach!" I heard her yelp. "S-Sasuke, it's tearing!" The Jounin and Gaara were closer, but…

I moved my leg, trying to get her a little closer to the wall. Her hand hit hard on a rock, and there was a crack. She yelped in pain, but grabbed it.

Just as the fabric tore.

Sakura's grip was weak enough that she let go when her arm took her full weight. She plunged fifty feet to the ground below—and I could do nothing but watch helplessly.

"SAKURA!"

The agonized shriek didn't sound like me at all. It was more animal than human. Grey hazed over my eyes. _No…_ She was falling, falling… she'd never survive fifty feet… Sakura was going to die…

A black shadow darted out of the underbrush. I couldn't make its identity out through the rain, but it was just short enough to be Gaara. It stretched its arms out, stood there casually for a sec, then fell as Sakura tumbled into its arms.

I sagged with relief, sobbing softly. She was all right. Sakura would be ok. I didn't even struggle when hot sand plucked me gently off the wall and down to the ground.

Gaara caught me when my trembling legs discovered they couldn't hold me anymore, and sat me down. The rain seemed almost to becoming down harder, if possible. He kept the sand cocoon wrapped around me—it was sooo warm—and checked my eyes.

"Shock," he announced. The sand warmed a notch. He snapped his fingers imperiously at Neji. "Bring Sakura-san over here," he ordered. "She might be in shock too."

Obediently, Neji took Sakura from her saviour and carried her carefully over to where we were. I blinked, confused. If the person who'd saved Sakura was Gaara, then why were there _two_ Gaaras? Was it a clone? Or was it someone else?

Sakura was placed gently on the sand next to me. Her viridian eyes were wide and blank. Gaara took a single look at her, pronounced her "in shock too" and wrapped sand around her.

The other Chuunins and Genins were beginning to surround us, chattering frantically. Naruto hobbled over to us, dragging Hinata behind him. His expression was fearful.

"OH MY GAWD!" he yelled. "ARE YOU GUYS OK?" He threw his arms around us and continued screaming. "I WAS SOOO SCARED! I THOUGHT SAKURA WAS A GONER! HELL, I THOUGHT SASKUE WAS GOING AFTER HER! BY THE WAY, WHAT THE HELL WAS WITH THAT SCREAM, SASKUE? THAT FREAKED THE HELL OUTTA ME!" I would have slapped him if I had the strength. Instead, I growled, "Stop screaming in my ear or I'll sic Sakura on you." He relented a bit, and sat down in front of us. Of course, poor, forgotten Hinata was dragged along too.

I sighed, taking a kunai out and slicing their bonds. She gave me a look of gratitude, but I merely nodded before turning my attention to Sakura.

I brushed some pink hair off her brow. Her pupils were huge, and she was trembling. I looked around for her saviour, but he'd vanished. _A Clone, then, I guess._

People buzzed all around us, but I ignored them, even if they were talking to or about us. I touched her face gently. She jumped, and her green eyes flicked to me. "Sakura?" I asked quietly. "Are you ok?"

Her eyes rolled up in her head and she went limp. I gave a shout and caught her before she fell.


	6. Sasuke the Ice Statue Finally Melts

I lay on my futon, motionless and half-asleep. My cordless phone lay beside my bed. I was waiting for a phone call.

The rest of the game day had been cancelled. Naruto had told me that Hinata said that Kurenai-sensei said that Kakashi-sensei was looked up in his house, moping, and had been for hours. Naruto would call me any minute—it was nearly seven-thirty that evening—with Sakura's condition.

Gaara and Fuzzy-Eyebrows had escorted me home. I had collapsed upon the futon within seconds of getting through the door. Gaara had put blankets and my phone within easy reach of my, while Eyebrows had dimmed the lights. Then they had left.

The most I knew was that Sakura had a bad case of shock and wasn't speaking to anyone. I had, surprisingly, fallen asleep the minute I fell on the futon and Gaara and Eyebrows had left. But now I was awake—ok, half awake—and waiting for Naruto's call.

I had many things on my mind: Sakura, Sakura and Sakura. Why was I so incredibly worried over her? She was my teammate, I should be anxious. Not ready to rip out my hair any second. She was my friend… _I shouldn't be so worried,_ I told myself groggily, turning over. _Relax, Sasuke; she's JUST your friend._

Or was she?

_I don't know anything anymore._

I groaned.

The phone rang. It was loud in my ear and made me jump. I flew up, grabbed the phone, pressed the talk button, jammed it to my ear and screamed, "NARUTO?"

"No, this is the ramen store," said a deep voice. "We were wondering when you wanted your muffins delivered."

I rolled my eyes. "Cut the crap, Naruto, and tell me about Sakura!"

"Getting a little anxious, are we?" Naruto said, and I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"NAR-uto!"

"Kidding, kidding! She's ok, dude. She started talking again a couple of hours ago. Tsunade-baachan wants her to stay in bed for another couple of days, but she's been asking for you."

I sagged in relief, then blushed hard. "Sh-she has?" "Interested now, are you?" Naruto laughed. "She's all yours; I haven't had a crush on her in years. Go see her; she'd still be awake." "O-ok," I said, blushing harder. "Thanks." "See you tomorrow," my friend said, and hung up. I pressed the off button on the phone and put it on the table. I brooded for a moment.

Sakura had been… asking for… me? _Oh. My. Gawd,_ I thought dazedly. _Yes!_

And that's when I realized. It had finally happened. After far too many years.

Sasuke-the-Ice-Statue had finally melted.

About two seconds later I was flinging myself out the door, bolting for Sakura's house.

I rapped impatiently on her front door. Her father opened it and looked surprised to see me. "Ah, Sasuke," he said. "Hello." "Can I see Sakura?" I asked quickly. "It's important." "Sure, come on in," Mr. Haruno nodded, stepping back to let me pass.

I didn't even take off my jacket before I was running up the stairs to her room. I was loud, and her mother yelled something about elephants, but I ignored her. I hesitated at Sakura's door with my hand on the knob.

Did I want to do this? What if she was still mad at me? Would she listen to what I had to say? How _did_ I feel about her? Did Sakura _really_ want to see me, or was Naruto being an asshole again?

_Be brave, Sasuke._

I took a deep breath and pushed open the door. I knew what I had to do.


	7. Sasuke's Apology

Sakura wasn't too sure why they had made her stay in bed for two days. Maybe it was because of the shock. Either way, she was confused, because she felt perfectly fine.

She had had a nightmare the night before, where the Gaara-clone hadn't caught her and she had fallen to her death. Sasuke's inhuman shriek was still ringing in her ears when she had woken up.

Sakura turned over, looking at her clock. _7:45,_ she thought, yawning. _I wonder if Mom would let me come downstairs and watch some TV?_ She was just about to roll out of bed to ask when she heard a series of very loud thuds on the stairs, as if someone was coming up them very fast and not caring about the noise. And since her mother wasn't screaming about the noise, she was either out or she knew the person.

Sakura listened to the thuds, the television forgotten. The person clattered down the hall, then stopped at her bedroom door. _Not Naruto, then,_ she decided. HE would have just come barging in, and besides, he'd already visited her today. _Not Hinata either, she's too quiet. Ino would never come here._ She roughly shoved who she _hoped_ it was from her mind. His chances of coming here to check on her were about as great as Ino's, even if she'd been asking for him. She sighed and waited for whoever-it-was to open the door and enter.

It took a few seconds, as if whoever it was was working up the courage to enter the room, but finally the door was pushed open and he entered.

Sakura gasped. "What do _you_ want?" she snapped.

Sasuke bit his lip and inched a little further into the room. "H-hey, Sakura," he said. He seemed nervous, but Sasuke never got nervous. Sakura blinked. "How are you doing?" he asked. "Um," she said. "Not bad. Ok, I guess." "Good."

There was a long, awkward silence. Sasuke fidgeted. Sakura stared at her hands and blushed. _This is so awkward!_ she thought. _Why is he here? He seems… I don't know, different, somehow. Not as… cold. More human than ice._

"Sorry," he said suddenly. "Um," Sakura said. "What?" _What's he talking about? Why won't he just go?_ "Sorry I couldn't do anything about you falling," Sasuke continued, blushing. _Sasuke never blushes!_ "Sorry I froze up like that. I could've made a clone to catch you, but I didn't. And… sorry I've been such a bastard to you over the years. It didn't really matter when we were twelve, because I was like that to everyone. But now we're seventeen… and it's after Itachi and the Orochimaru thing… I've been better to most people, except you and Hyuuga and a few other people.

"I don't give a damn about Hyuuga. He's a jumped up arrogant asshole. You, though… Sakura, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I've realized that you and Naruto are my best friends. I shouldn't be such a bastard. You've done plenty to save my hide and I don't deserve it. Sorry."

_Now_ he was looking at her, and his expression was miserable. Sakura sat there; she was shocked by more than the fact that he had an expression on his face. _Did he just… apologize?_ she thought, stunned. _For being a jerk?_ Sakura could only stare at him blankly. His face went expressionless, and he turned back to go out the door.

Sakura's mouth began working again at this point. "Wait!" she said, and smiled. "A-apology accepted, Sasuke-kun." She blushed. Sasuke looked back at her, saw her smile, and grinned widely. His face was rather pinkish. Sakura's heart fluttered.

_Wow, he's even hotter when he smiles. And he's_ especially _cute when he's blushing!_


	8. That's What You Get

I was nervous and felt naked without my masks. She made me stop using them. I must have stayed at Sakura's for hours last night, talking. I could just act like myself, like the Sasuke I'd been ten years ago. It felt really good.

I was still jittery without my masks.

Two days later, Sakura showed up again at training. Naruto, being Naruto, immediately began yelling and greeted her with an enthusiastic hug. I'd known she would be back today—Naruto had thought she would have taken a day off training—so I just smiled at her. "Okay, Kakashi-sensei," I said. "Sakura-chan and I are off—if Naruto-dobe stops strangling her!" "WHOA!" Naruto shrieked. "YOU JUST CALLED HER SAKURA-CHAN! WHAT'S UP WITH THAAAAAT?" I just grinned. "C'mon, Sakura-chan," was all I said. Kakashi-sensei patted my shoulder as I went past him.

Sakura and I stopped in the clearing we'd been in the first day her training had been passed on to me. I stretched. "Ok," I said. "Kage Bunshin, ten clones, have at it." She nodded, flashed the hand seals, and ten other Sakuras popped into existence around her.

I watched her fight them critically. _The way she ducked that punch was too unbalanced,_ I thought, or _That kick wasn't high enough._ When she had about four or five clones left, I gave a small grin, and pulled my little trick.

About a dozen Sasukes leapt out of the woods, myself included, armed to the teeth and screaming bloody murder. She whirled around, eyes wide with surprise, and raised her arms to shield herself from the attack.

Two clones grabbed her legs, one grabbed her arms, and a fourth's foot landed directly on her chest. She went flying backwards out of the clones' grips, and landed hard on the ground, bouncing twice and lying still.

"Shit!" I yelped, dismissing the clones. I got her four with a few kunai as I went past, and knelt beside her. Gently I rolled her over.

She was awake, but her eyes were half-focused and her face was blank. _She hit her head pretty hard when she landed. Maybe it's too late for her to start training again…_ "Sakura!" I cried, shaking her carefully. "Are you all right?"

Sakura shook her head to clear it. "S-Sasuke?" she mumbled, blinking at me. She struggled to sit up. "Careful," I said, supporting her back. "Take it slow." She looked back at me, and there was an odd look in her eyes. I felt shivers go up and down my spine. "What?" I asked. Sakura smiled. "There's something different about you today, that's all," she said. "You seem more human. More happy. Less like a human icicle." She turned away and rested against me. "I like you better this way." I blushed, and from the corner of her face I could see, I saw she was too. "I'll stay like this, then," I mumbled. "We should get on with training." "All right," she answered, and lifted herself to her feet. She staggered to her feet. "Whoa!" she yelped. "I'm dizzy!"

I grabbed her shoulders. "Easy," I said. "Take a couple of steps." I went around in front of her and let go of her shoulders. "Walk toward me slowly."

She tried to take a step, then stumbled forward. She literally fell into my arms.

I went very still. She didn't seem to be able to keep her balance. My arms rose slowly, almost of their own accord, then they became mine to control again. I threw them around her and pulled her tight to my body. She gasped, startled, then hugged me back without hesitation.

In that instant, all the fear, uncertainty, nightmares left me. I knew I would never dream of Orochimaru or Itachi again. They were the past. Sakura was present, and Sakura was future. In that single moment, I knew what I felt. And it felt so _right,_ just so goddamned _right,_ to have Sakura Haruno in my arms. I opened my eyes wide at this realization, and my mouth opened in a whisper.

"I love you, Sakura."

Hatake Kakashi watched his two young shinobi from a tree, carefully hidden in the branches. He was glad be had his clone back with Naruto. The blond shinobi would never have been able to take this. He was so certain he was in love with Sakura.

But watching this scene, Kakashi knew Naruto would never have a chance with her. He could scream, yell, throw things all he wanted, but all he'd get from Sakura was friendship and a brother/sister relationship. Sighing, Kakashi turned away to give Sasuke and Sakura some privacy. He knew he'd now have a broken heart to patch up and some Squad 7 feathers to smooth.

_But I guess that's what you get,_ the Jounin thought resolutely, traveling swiftly though the trees back to his charge, _of kunai, shuriken and shinobi love._


	9. NEW STORY!

Naruto popped up in Tsunade's office one day. Unfortunately, she was in a meeting with Gai, Kakashi and Anko about the whole hellish Orochimaru thing. "I think we—" Kakashi was just saying, when Naruto suddenly burst in screaming, "OLD LADY TSUNADE! OLD LADY TSUNADE! GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" "SHUT UP YOU LITTLE BRAT, CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY?" Tsunade screamed in return, flinging a chair. He ducked and screamed back, "BUT SNOWHEARTE IS WRITING A NEW STORY! A SEQUEL TO OF KUNAI, SHURIKEN AND SHINOBI LOVE!" All three other ninja stopped. "What?" Gai cried. "Her fists of love continue?" "Shut up, Gai," Kakashi said. "What are you saying, Naruto?" "It's called When the Lilies Cry and ITS ABOUT MEEEEEEE!" Naruto shrieked in happiness, whirling about. "GOOD FOR YOU!" Tsunade barked. "I WASN'T IN THE LAST ONE, SO I DON'T EXPECT ME TO BE IN THIS NEXT ONE! NOW PISS OFF, BRAT!" Naruto bounced out of her office, still singing "IT'S ABOUT ME-EE! IT'S ABOUT MEE-EEE!"


End file.
